1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to atomizers and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for integrating air supplies, reservoirs and atomizers into an integrated system.
2. The Background Art
Various mechanisms for treating an environment with moisture, medicaments, and the like have been developed using boilers, heaters, fans, and so forth. Aroma therapy involves evaporation, distribution, or other entrainment of volatiles, essential oils, or the like into breathing air, an atmosphere of a room, or other enclosed space. Applicant has previously developed various mechanisms for distributing atomized liquids into the atmosphere. Likewise, various systems for heating or dissolving aromatic or oil-based materials in a solvent to promote evaporation into the atmosphere have also been relied upon in the art. Meanwhile, various medical devices provide humidification of a space such as a “steam tent” or the like.
Spray painting has long used various types of spray devices to apply paint onto surfaces. However, with such systems, pumps are typically very heavy on the order of several pounds or tens of pounds. Also, sprayer systems are typically not integrated because the supply of paint is a large container weighing from about 8 to about 40 pounds. Accordingly, a painter desires to have a very small spray head on a handle. Thus, it has been more useful to separate a reservoir from a sprayer and from a pump.
However, in aroma therapy, it would be an advance in the art to accommodate space, aesthetics, weight, stability, simplicity of use, ease of use, storage, and the like. Moreover, in handling materials such as essential oils, one should take care not to damage finishes, stain clothing or fabrics, and so forth. Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide an integrated system having suitable weight for stability, a sufficiently small size so excessive footprint and volume are not occupied on a dresser, table, or a night stand. It would be an advance to provide a system easily, safely, and securely located anywhere within a room. Likewise, it would be an advance in the art to provide an aesthetically pleasing shape integrating all of the functions required for evaporating or atomizing a scent, perfume, essential oil, or other material desired to be distributed within an ambient environment.
It would also be an advance in the art to provide an apparatus having long life, inexpensive components, easily replaceable parts, few moving parts, few wearing parts, and simple assembly and operation. It would also be an advance in the art to provide an aroma therapy generator or atomizer that could feed from standard commercial bottles, conventionally used to contain essential oils, by direct connection to the atomizer. This could further eliminate any need to pour and otherwise chance spilling drops of damaging oil or other liquids on furniture or fabrics.
It would also be an advance in the art to provide control over such a mechanism in order to optimize the use of materials. For example, it would be an advance in the art to provide some control over the amount of an expensive oil atomizing into the atmosphere.
However, balancing the need to atomize an oil into a very fine dispersion in air acts opposite or requires an opposite design criterion compared to minimizing the amount of material used. Thus, it would be an advance in the art to provide an atomizer that provides a better atomization or a smaller mean or average size of droplet in the distribution of atomized droplets compared with prior art devices capable of atomizing.